A man was knocked over and nearly gored by a runaway bull that came across his path on his way home from work.

The incident was captured on surveillance footage on a street in Huangshi, in Hubei, China, on January 28.

In the video, the man, not identified in local media, could be seen casually walking home while scrolling through his phone when he caught the attention of the animal.

Moments later, the bull, dragging along its broken restraint rope, charged towards the pedestrian and knocked him to the ground.

Shocked, the man fell back and landed on the street, then sat upright and stared at the animal, seemingly unsure what to do. Surprisingly, the bull suddenly ran off and left him alone.

Its owner later caught the animal and tried to restrain it but it broke free local media reported.

The animal roamed loose around the city the entire night, local media said, while police searched for it.

After an hours-long search, residents also joined the effort and with their help, police were able to finally capture the bull and return it to the owner.